Where the Story Ends
by because-donuts
Summary: Raleigh would have never pegged Chuck on being a Gipsy Danger fan. (For Anon who asked for it; prompt from Tumblr user kuro-ecchi; fic theme from 'Where the Story Ends' by The Fray)


The Breach was destroyed. The kaiju: gone. That annoying wall-clock has since been inactive. The Anteverse as we knew it was obliterated thanks to Gipsy Danger's unclear reactor.

Operation Pitfall took two more Rangers at the end of the Kaiju War; Raleigh almost went with them.

People die all the time. That's what people do. Every nineteen seconds - on average. The two pilots of Striker Eureka that had sacrificed themselves to make way for Gipsy's were part of those numbers. But to Raleigh Becket, Herc Hansen, Mako Mori and everyone else in the world, Stacker Pentecost and Chuck Hansen will always be remembered.

Research will still continue in the Hong Kong Shatterdome. Even without the Jaegers, there's more to do, and even more to discover. Herc Hansen, taking over as the new Marshal, made to oversee that everything went smoothly in the 'Dome.

The man hid it well, let me tell you. While everyone mourned for their friends and heroes, he mourned the loss of a son. _A son, his son. _His son who grew up a boy-soldier; grew up without a mother; grew up detached from the world. The same son who thought sacrificing his life in order to save the world would right the wrongs he's made. That it would make his father forgive him...

And it was that same son whose room was being cleared out today.

Herc was too busy to do it himself, even though he feels as if it was his job as a father. Chuck's room lay untouched in the weeks following the end of the war. No one has yet left, but the days had droned on and on for most of the remaining crew.

Raleigh was to leave the Shatterdome once and for all, travel the world with Mako. But before he did, he had a debt to pay for the Hansens.

"You don't need to do it, kid."

"Got nothing left to do, sir. Might as well."

Herc's lower lip disappeared for a second. "Fine. Boy, just don't throw anything, ya hear?"

"Wouldn't think of it."

That's what he did for his last day at the 'Dome; cleaned up the room of the late Striker Eureka pilot.

Raleigh's never been to the side of the building where Chuck's room was at. Hell, he _despised_ the thought of roaming around by himself and running into Chuck at some point. Now he never has to worry about it...

Now he feels a little bad about it.

The door-lock jammed, but he got it opened eventually. Chuck's room, though it was his first time there, didn't look any different from the other quarters. There was a queen-sized bed, a desk, a pin-board, a closet, a bathroom... Posters, pictures, lanyards. Normal stuff you'd find in a Ranger's room.

The Becket boy shuffled his feet sheepishly. He didn't feel like he belonged. Compared to what length his and Chuck's relationship spanned - from down-right hatred to leveled respect - he stuck out like a thumb. He wasn't worthy, not even to a douche-bag like Hansen. Yeah, he was a bag of dog shit and daddy-issues, but it was a mask. No distractions.

Fight to live, live to fight: that's Chuck for you.

While Raleigh was packing stuff in boxes, it was all he could think about. He was Chuck at one point; in his shoes. He was his age once, always coming back after every deployment, starting to get a big head, getting cocky... He stayed relatively grounded, though. After Yancy, Raleigh was reserved. Quieter. He's always hated people, but he didn't mind helping out.

That was Chuck, too. They were two sides of the same coin. Maybe, if Raleigh had known him longer, Chuck would have grown on him. Perhaps they would've become more like brothers, or...

Come to think of it, Yancy may have met him once before. Or was it the other way around? He could distinctly remember a kid from -

Raleigh's train of thought was interrupted when his foot tapped something under the mattress. He dropped the box in his hand on the top of the bed covers. Raleigh got to his knees, lifting the comforters, and felt around for whatever he had made contact with.

_Cardboard?_

He pulled it out from under the bed.

Yep. Shoe box.

Raleigh cracked a grin. On the cover was, written in big, black block letters: **DO NOT OPEN**. It was something a teen would do. It was something _he _would have done, when he was younger.

Kids nowadays just aren't the same, you know.

He took the cover of the box and put it off to the side. His smile stayed where it was. If anything, Raleigh's grin only got broader and broader. The contents of the box were not only amusing, but it actually hit home.

There was a ten-inch tall figurine of a Gipsy Danger replica, a little scratched and worn. One of Striker Eureka was there as well. Without a second thought, Raleigh propped them up on the bedside drawer. He got to his feet then. Something in the box shifted.

He blinked.

_Is this really? He didn't._

It made his stomach churn. Not in a bad way. The way you feel... when someone cares - when you _know _someone cares. And who would've thought that it was Charles Hansen?

Raleigh carefully picked up the two action figures into his palm. Both toys were Jaeger Rangers. Both blond. Both brothers. Both in their late-model, white DriveSuits. They were of him and Yance.

They were in pretty mint condition compared to the Jaegers. And they were of Yancy and Raleigh Becket. Chuck "Fan-Boy" Hansen. It made the boy laugh to himself.

"Would'a never pegged you as the type, Chuck," Raleigh said into thin air. He wouldn't admit it, but he was hoping that Chuck was listening, wherever he was.

The former knew that the latter would have punched him for calling him that.

That thought made Raleigh steel himself. His grin faded. He stared into the box again. Instead of emptiness, he saw smiles. Chuck and Yancy.

They _did _meet before.

The picture wasn't a Polaroid, but it was developed - from the years when pictures were still being developed, mind you. It had lain at the bottom of that box for - what? _Years? _- and it still looked as good as new.

Yancy's hair was still a little shaggy. Chuck was wearing a red bull-cap, donning his messy ginger locks.

The red-toned date on the corner of the picture said "12/20/19 12:57 PM". If his calculations were correct, that would have been when they were at Manila. He and Yancy were there with Horizon Brave and Lucky Seven - the first team, with Herc and his brother, Scott - and had stayed in the Philippines for three days.

They'd met before. Chuck was a kid before; barely sixteen. Herc was Chuck's hero. Yancy was Chuck's hero.

_Raleigh_ was Chuck's hero.

And he never gave the boy the time of day.

Raleigh left the boxes and action figures where they lay. Those could wait for later. He stood up and pinned the picture onto Chuck's pin-board, smack dab in the middle. A sad smile replaced the sullen look on his face.

Hopefully, Yancy would do better than him up there.


End file.
